AI-based test to help de­tect shock in chil­dren could save many lives

A team of In­dian re­searchers has de­vel­oped a ther­mal imag­ing and ar­ti­fi­cial in­tel­li­gence-based test that pre­dicts set­ting-in of haemo­dy­namic shock -in­suf­fi­cient oxy­gen sup­ply to or­gans lead­ing to multi-or­gan fail­ure -- in chil­dren even 12 hours be­fore doc­tors can clin­i­cally di­ag­nose it. The de­tec­tion of shock can pre­vent or­gan fail­ure and save lives. The shock in crit­i­cally ill pa­tients can set in due to var­i­ous con­di­tions, in­clud­ing heavy in­ter­nal bleed­ing and se­vere blood in­fec­tion called sep­sis that leads to re­stricted blood flow and a re­sult­ing lack of oxy­gen sup­ply to or­gans and tis­sues, caus­ing death.